Douglas Edward Reeman, born 15 October 1924 (age 87) at Thames Ditton

Thames Ditton

Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...

, is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 who has written many historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 books on the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, mainly set during either World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 or the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

.

Reeman joined the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in 1940, at the age of 16, and served during World War II and the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

. In addition to being an author, Reeman has also taught the art of navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

 for yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

ing and served as a technical advisor for film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s. Douglas married Canadian Kimberley Jordan in 1985.

Reeman's debut novel

Debut novel

A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...

, A Prayer for the Ship was published in 1958. His pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Alexander Kent was the name of a friend and naval officer who died during the Second World War. Reeman is most famous for his series of Napoleonic naval stories, whose central character is Richard Bolitho

Richard Bolitho

The Bolitho novels are a series of nautical war novels written by Douglas Reeman . They focus on the military careers of Richard Bolitho and Adam Bolitho in the Royal Navy, from the time of the American Revolution past the Napoleonic Era.-Richard Bolitho:Richard Bolitho is a fictional Royal Navy...

, and, later, his nephew, Adam. He also wrote a series of novels about several generations of the Blackwood family who served in the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 from the 1850s to the 1970s, and a non-fiction account of his World War II experiences, D-Day: A Personal Reminiscence (1984).

World War II novels

Title	Original publication	Reference
A Prayer for the Ship	1958	ISBN 0515057835
Dive in the Sun	1961	ISBN 0091113008
The Hostile Shore	1962	ISBN 0099078805
With Blood and Iron	1964	ISBN 0091056608
HMS Saracen	1965	ISBN 0099062607
The Pride and the Anguish	1968	ISBN 0090874404
To Risks Unknown	1969	ISBN 0090975200
Rendezvous - South Atlantic	1972	ISBN 0091092701
His Majesty's U-Boat (also named Go In and Sink!)	1973	ISBN 0399111956 ISBN 0091146208
The Destroyers	1974	ISBN 0091199409
Winged Escort	1975	ISBN 0091247403
Surface with Daring	1976	ISBN 0091276306
Strike from the Sea	1978	ISBN 0099187809
A Ship Must Die	1979	ISBN 0091381509
Torpedo Run	1981	ISBN 0688001335
The Volunteers	1985	ISBN 0091600707
The Iron Pirate	1986	ISBN 0773721053
In Danger's Hour	1988	ISBN 0434626325
The White Guns	1989	ISBN 0434626341
Killing Ground	1991	ISBN 0434626384
Sunset	1994	ISBN 043462635X
A Dawn Like Thunder	1996	ISBN 0434002151
Battlecruiser	1997	ISBN 0434002917
For Valour	2000	ISBN 0434007196
Twelve Seconds to Live	2002	ISBN 0434008745
The Glory Boys	2008	ISBN 9780434013524

The Blackwood Saga

aka The Royal Marines Saga

• Badge of Glory (1982) (1st in plot sequence)
• The First to Land (1984) (2nd)
• The Horizon (1993) (3rd)
• Dust on the Sea (1999) (4th)
• Knife Edge (2004) (5th)

Other settings

• High Water (1959)
• Send a Gunboat (1960)
• The Hostile Shore (1962)
• The Last Raider (1963)
• Path of the Storm (1966)
• The Deep Silence (1967)
• The Greatest Enemy (1970)

Richard Bolitho novels

(written under the name Alexander Kent)

• Richard Bolitho, Midshipman
  Richard Bolitho, Midshipman
  Richard Bolitho, Midshipman is a novel in The Bolitho Novels, a series of nautical fiction novels set during the late 18th century in the Royal Navy by Douglas Reeman writing under the pseudonym Alexander Kent. The book was published in 1975...
  
  (1975)
• Midshipman Bolitho and the 'Avenger'  (1978)
• Band of Brothers (2005)
• Stand Into Danger (1980)
• In Gallant Company (1977)
• Sloop Of War (1972)
• To Glory We Steer (1968)
• Command a King's Ship (1973)
• Passage To Mutiny (1976)
• With All Despatch (1988)
• Form Line of Battle! (1969)
• Enemy In Sight! (1970)
• Flag Captain (1971)
• Signal - Close Action! (1974)
• The Inshore Squadron (1977)
• A Tradition Of Victory (1981)
• Success to the Brave (1983)
• Colours Aloft (1986)
• Honour This Day (1987
• The Only Victor (1990)
• Beyond The Reef (1992)
• The Darkening Sea (1993)
• For My Country's Freedom (1995)
• Cross Of St. George (1996)
• Sword of Honour (1998)
• Second to None (1999)
• Relentless Pursuit (2001)
• Man of War (2003)
• Heart of Oak (2007)
• In the King's Name (2011)

External links

• Douglas Reeman official site